Originally Posted by toodeep (Post 685349)

Noodle I am not saying they are 100% comparable what I am saying I use to live there and think just like all of you and I now live on the east and see that they help out the west a lot more than you think they do.

Originally Posted by Smalls (Post 684920)

Good news W. I talked to my buddy with LDWF. Biologists for LDWF don't work behind the weirs. He said that is fed territory. So did you talk to Agents? Not saying an agent wouldn't know what he's talking about, but I have known agents that had no biology background except fish or wildlife identification. Nothing wrong with that, they don't need anymore than that in most cases.

I understand your point about data, Capt. B, but there is decades of data on vegetation and salinity characteristics as they relate to the Cameron-Creole. There has also been research conducted on the effect of the weirs on ingress and egress of organisms. I have a few of those reports sitting in my office. You can also find them online.

So there is not a lack of data. Quite the contrary, there is an abundance of data. I have seen one report, can't remember if it is one I have laying around or its on the internet, but it clearly shows salinities dropped after installation of the weirs, which is beneficial to that marsh. I have a map somewhere that shows the vegetation communities from 1949. Most of that area was high quality Jamaican sawgrass marsh. That marsh type was a great muskrat habitat. The loss of that marsh type has a lot to do with the loss of muskrats, among other things.

I am sorry to hear that what was good duck habitat has been grown up with cattails. I hate cattails as much as I hate marsh loss. But historically, that marsh was brackish to fresh. There have been some areas to the east that have experienced a freshing over time, while areas more lakeward have experienced a slight increase in salt, and consequently, a change in marsh type.

The major issue pre-weirs was the increase in salt. As Delany (1989) pointed out, marshhay cordgrass, or wiregrass as many know it, was dying because of the constant, raised salinities. It was dying so rapidly that smooth cordgrass, or oystergrass, could not colonize. The net result was a loss of marsh, and increased open water.

At the same time, this is when shrimping and crabbing appear to have been at their height in the area, because there was an abundance of detritus. This provided an abundance of food for these organisms.

If anyone is legitimately interested in reading some of these papers, I will be glad to share them. If I can get some of the paper reports scanned in, I will be glad to share those too.

Originally Posted by "w" (Post 685011)

big lake problems in order and if you can find one person who spends more than 100 days out here on the water that disagrees i'll shut up
#1 ship channel erosion
#2 oyster dredging
#3 weirs closure
#4 marshes behind weirs

Originally Posted by redchaserron (Post 687736)

If you want to see what we are losing, and what they are trying to protect with the weirs, open Google Earth and zoom into Cameron prairie refuge. At the top of the page on Google earth is a clock face, click it and it will bring up a slider. Use your mouse to slide the slider back and forth and you will see images over the course of time, you can see the marsh opening up, good productive nursery environment turning to open water. I fish back there a lot, it's my playground for years and I've been shocked at the changes I see year to year due to erosion. Sure I'd like to have access to get back there all the time, but not at the much greater cost of losing the marsh. I'm amazed at how short sighted "conservation minded" fishermen become when measures necessary to protect the resource over the long haul inconveniences them and their fishing for a bit.

Oh and a little info, the opening and closing of the weirs isn't controlled by "A Guy" it's controlled by the Coastal protection and restoration authority. Prior to hurricane Rita they controlled the weirs and they were often closed for large chunks of the summer. After hurricane Rita, they turned over control of the weirs to the SWLA refuge complex and they virtually never closed them. I saw the fishing change back there, numbers of redfish went up but size went down and I started seeing the marsh melt away. A few years ago (maybe 3 I'm not certain) operation of the weirs was turned back over to the CPRA and they returned to the management strategy used prior to 2005. It's not any different then it was then, I remember being disappointed when I couldn't get back there in the middle of summer back then just as now. They have their salinity benchmarks and that's what the opening and closure is generally based on. At times, even if salinity is above target levels they will open them if water is very high to relieve flooding. Also, in severe drought they will at times open them because in some conditions the marsh completely drying out is worse than salt intrusion.

Originally Posted by Bluechip (Post 687756)

Wil Drost.... W blames him for everything lol.

Originally Posted by homerun (Post 687747)

Having a rock levee from old super cut to wash out would slow down tidal movement within the lake therefore less tidal flow action in marshes behind weirs which would mean less salt back there. Rock levee the channel seems to be a win win for all here. They did it most of ship channel anyways what is big deal to put another couple of miles. The channel increase tidal flow when installed. Why is it so difficult for those with power to understand this? Cut the snake off at head not the tail.

Originally Posted by Smalls (Post 687755)

Whats tthe name waltrip?

Redchaserron - where did you hear that CPRA had operational control, because I can assure you, that is not who assumed control after USFWS relinquished it. The operation of the weirs was bid out to private companies, under the instruction of the management plan. Maybe CPRA issues those instructions, but I have never heard such.

Originally Posted by "W" (Post 687814)

Before Rita they keep the gates open just about everyday but had boat bay closed the flow was open and almost never closed at Lambet and grand just because the boat bay was closed did not mean the gates were closed.

Can tell u how many times I seen the gates pouring water out while boat bay was closed off to boats

Originally Posted by LAfins (Post 690303)

The grand bayou wier was closed yesterday (gate all the way down) but yet water was still rushing into the marsh through the boat bay. I have been reading the info on this thread but im really confused after what i saw yesterday. What's up with that?